Thursday, November 18, 2010

I found this fairly rare single page ad for sale on eBay--CBS/Fox pitching "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" as a standalone VHS for sale.

The ad copy seems to suggest its aimed at individual buyers, but at the time most new VHS tapes were selling for a now-astounding $79.95, so it seems more likely this was meant for video stores to rent.

This tape was one of the first VHS tapes I ever wanted to own (at the time, it was the only episode of M*A*S*H available on tape, and in turn it was the only episode not part of the syndicated re-runs), and it stayed at that $79.95 price for what seemed like forever. Then one, day, all of a sudden, it was knocked down to something like $30 (a steal!) and I snapped it up immediately.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Another vintage M*A*S*H articles, this one from the Loganspoirt, IN Pharos-Tribune that ran on February 28, 1983, the day of the series' final episode.

In the intervening decades, newspapers have taken such a hit that a paper devoting this much column space to a TV show--any episode of any TV show--seems kind of inconceivable now.

Since the article was an syndicated piece from the AP, we don't know who wrote it--but whoever did was obviously a fan, and a thoughtful one at that: they manage to encapsulate many of the final episode's best and most important moments.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Lubbock, Texas Evening Journal ran not one, not two, not three, but four different articles about M*A*S*H on the occasion of its final episode. A better testament to the show's cultural impact I can't really imagine.

Monday, November 15, 2010

I was searching through an online newspaper archive and found a bunch of cool vintage M*A*S*H articles, like this one, a review of the pilot from the Illinois Galesburg Register Mail that ran on September 15, 1972, a mere two days before it aired.

The writer of the piece seemed like to like M*A*S*H just fine, but seemed more excited about Anna and the King, which lasted a mere thirteen episodes. M*A*S*H, of course, lasted just a little bit longer...